An articles club

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Three years ago, I posted about a random idea I had for an articles club. "An articles club would be just like a book club," I wrote, "But we'll read articles. We'd all read the same story—from, say, The New Yorker or Elle—and chat over wine and snacks. It would be fascinating, timely and a much easier commitment than a book club (because, honestly, who ever finishes the book on time?). And it would make the winter feel fun." Well, my friend Anna and I started one, and here's what it's like...

The evening starts at 7:30pm, so Toby can stay up a few minutes late and say hi to the ladies. He gets to eat some guacamole and chips and tell a few jokes before padding off to bed.

He always tries to sneak in a few extra minutes:)

Then the evening begins! We discuss the article and share anecdotes and philosophies. We also drink wine and eat snacks, of course.

We usually choose an article that feels relevant to our lives—typically about friendship, career, work/life balance or relationships.

The fascinating thing about an articles club is how close you get to—and how much you learn about—the women in the group. The conversations get intimate pretty quickly—we've talked about marriage, breakups, parenting, career goals, what success means, the saddest and happiest times in our lives, depression, body image, aging, feminism, religion, everything under the sun. I've learned things about my friends that I hadn't known after years and years of friendship, since we end up talking about such specific, deep topics. It's wonderful.